The Community Service Society of New York
10/17/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 10/17/2024 09:32
Press Release: New CSS Report: Financial Security Worsening Among New Yorkers Across Income, Gender and Race
October 17th, 2024
Press Release
New CSS Report: Financial Security Worsening Among New Yorkers Across Income, Gender and Race
Latina Women report the highest level of financial stress; 40 percent say they worry constantly about meeting household expenses
The rising cost of living is making New York City more expensive to live in for a growing number of New Yorkers who are struggling to establish a financial foothold. This is according to the latest findings of a new Community Service Society of New York (CSS) report that unpacks the nature of financial insecurity and anxiety that New Yorkers are enduring and the ways in which it is impacting them.
The report, Teetering on the Edge: The Unheard Third Survey Reveals Pervasive Financial Insecurity Among New Yorkers, draws on findings from the 2023 survey. It argues that financial security has worsened for many New Yorkers across income, gender and race since 2021. Notably, the report also shows how much financial precarity has permeated into the lives of New Yorkers in the middle of the income distribution.
Highlights of the report include:
- In 2023, the share of households in poverty and near-poverty that reported being worried about making ends meet all or most of the time was similar, around 45 percent;
- Over a quarter (26 percent) of low-income New Yorkers (those living in or near poverty) reported having no rainy-day savings;
- One-in-five women disproportionately experienced financial insecurity in 2023 and the issue is especially acute for Black and Latina women, a quarter of whom had no rainy-day savings;
- In large part due to persistent gender disparities in wages, women are not only under higher financial stress, but also less likely to have higher amounts of savings, regardless of income.
- Households with children were much more likely to be financially insecure, with 17 percent reporting no rainy-day savings, compared to 14 percent of households without children;
- Even among high-income households, those with children were considerably more likely to have high levels of financial stress than households without children;
- Mothers, especially single mothers and low-income single mothers, reported high rates of financial insecurity;
- About one in every six low-income New Yorker will not be able to meet an unexpected emergency expense;
- Low-income households were much more likely to resort to meeting an emergency expense by borrowing from friends and family or by putting it on credit card and paying it off over time than moderate-to-high income households, who reported that they would pay with cash from bank accounts or put it on credit card and pay it off at the next statement.
According to the report authors, the expiration of pandemic-era assistance combined with historically high inflation during an uneven economic recovery have contributed to eroding New Yorkers' sense of economic security. To alleviate hardships and foster economic progress, the report offers several recommendations that can be implemented at the city and state level. These include:
- Improve access to and increase the amount of cash benefits to those in or near poverty to reflect the rising cost of living;
- Improve and expand access to the Empire State Child Credit (ESCC) and Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC);
- Fully fund and implement CityFHEPS housing voucher program and expand access to housing vouchers statewide;
- End gender- and race-based discrimination in wage-setting by strengthening pay transparency laws;
- Expand access to affordable banking and financial services.
"It is deeply concerning that millions of New Yorkers are one emergency expense away from spiraling into poverty," said David R. Jones, CSS President and CEO. "The findings of the report emphasize the need for addressing financial insecurity as an urgent imperative."
"An increasing number of New Yorkers is worried about making ends meet, despite some improvement in the economy," said Hilary Wilson, CSS Senior Policy Analyst and report co-author. "The rising cost of living, particularly due to the astronomical costs of housing and childcare, means that millions of New Yorkers are in a state of almost constant financial stress. At the same time, those who lack the savings to meet a relatively modest $400 emergency expense have few places to turn besides expensive loans and borrowing from family and friends, who themselves may be financial insecure. We must develop tools and programs that will meet New Yorkers' basic financial needs and finally bring them some relief."
"We have always known that New York City ranks the highest in terms of inequality, but to see that a quarter of our fellow New Yorkers have absolutely no rainy-day savings to fall back upon, underscores the seriousness of the problem," said Debipriya Chatterjee, CSS Senior Economist and report co-author. "These households that are scraping by, anxious about the next bill, choosing between necessities to meet, are not being able to invest in improving their or their children's quality of life, thus ensuring that the disadvantages persist over generations."
"This report is a sobering look at daily struggles for almost half of the city's residents," said Emerita Torres, CSS Vice President of Policy Research and Advocacy. "In this increasingly unaffordable city, existing inequities along racial and gender lines get amplified to worsen financial precarity for all low-income New Yorkers, but especially for women, and Black and Latina women, in particular."
The Community Service Society of New York (CSS) has worked with and for New Yorkers since 1843 to promote economic opportunity and champion an equitable city and state. We power change through a strategic combination of research, services, and advocacy to make New York more livable for people facing economic insecurity. By expanding access to health care, affordable housing, employment opportunities, debt assistance, and more, we make a tangible difference in the lives of millions. Join us at www.cssny.org.